doris

GrandmaAriel, He's been selling soap, lotions, candles, jams, jellies, air fresheners for ages now, and considers himself a supplier as well. And while I agree that people are a little sue-happy these days, no homeowners' insurance is going to cover him in case he is sued. You need business insurance of some sort to cover your products if you are selling, especailly to non-family/friends. People have been giving him good advice since I think last January, which he always disregards and then jumps into some other outrageous scheme. If he is what he claims he is, he is a 16-year od boy going to school full time, with an after school job at a supermarket, while making (ahem, not quite, but I can't think of a more appropriate word) candles, soap, airfresheners, lotions, laundry soap, jams, jellies, t-shirts, etc etc etc and also acting as a supplier for other chandlers and other BB makers. To my mind there is something wrong there. If he is in fact genuine, then he is DEFINITELY going too fast. As to using bases, there is still something, in my mind at least, different between using something sold as a base and using appropriate scents and additives, and ripping open a box of tide or whatever, adding fos, and repackaging as your own. I hope I'm not coming across as ranting, because I'm not, I'm merely pointing out why people are so ready to jump down his throat. I think people are often too ready to turn something into a bitch-fest, but that's not the case here. I've followed his posts since they first started appearing, find them highly amusing, and fully understand why everyone gets mad at him.

Oh I've read his posts and fully understand and agree with why almost everyone is in full attack mode, I'm just pointing our that hp is considered "safe" immediately. As far as I know, however, it still needs to harden, and I also have issues with his selling his 3rd ever batch of soap.

In his defence, he is making HP soap, which should be safe to use immediately. However, it also needs a cure time, usually equal to that of CP, to allow it to harden. It's also a little extreme to jump from M&P to HP and then sell your second or third batch 3 days out of the mold.

Personally, I think that he/she is doing it purposely to get a rise out of us. Even a kid would have a hard time coming up with that many stupid things in just a few months and then posting here about them when everything he/she has ever posted about has caused a trainwreck. I usually look forward to his posts because they and the aftermath are so entertaining. My favourite was "making" laundry soap: buying commercial soap and pouring fo's into it.

Chisel, mallet, put the wax in a box (to catch the pieces) and whack away. I just got some beeswax in 20 lb chunks, and decided I would try the drop it on concrete bit. I even froze it first, and put it in 3 heavy plastic bags. Well it bounced, and tore through all 3 bags on one corner. I must have looked a treat hurling beeswax off the back entrance to our shop.

Stella, thanks, I'll check those out tomorrow. jbement, I trim my wick every time I relight, but I was aiming for a wider melt pool before I blew it out. My wax is natural coloured, very clean "commercial" beeswax, other candles I made with it burned well. (I have in the past had beeswax that didn't burn, this, however is beautiful). On one side of my pillar, using a #3 wick, I have a shell of about 1/2" thick, on the other side, the side towards which the wick curls, it has burnt down completely. I would post a picture, but I am severely challenged that way. I'll try another one with a #4 wick. Thanks for your help.

I'm not using fo, just natural coloured beeswax.

I don't make a lot of candles, but I just got some new molds, and have been playing with them. As far as I know, if you have major mushrooms, the wick is too big. If you don't have a full meltpool, the wick is too small. So what is the problem when you have a mushroom and an inadequate melt pool? I'm using beeswax and 3" pillar molds and a #3 wick. The wick also curls a lot, so there is a thin wall left on one side, and a thick one on the other. Grrrrr!

Is your wick stretched on a frame?

Sigh.... Our schools never get enough government support, and there is always a need for money. Kids get sent home with a paper saying that the school is raising money for whatever, and that the kids are expected to take orders for the items, often magazines, candles, chocolate bars, cookie dough, crappy giftware..., and the school will get a certain % of the sales. There are sometimes gifts offered for the kid or the class that sells the most. One is expected to force your kids to go out and harrass neighbours and co-workers and plain old strangers so that the school can buy library books, or science equipment. It seems that some of the people on here get to supply the item that is being pushed, and I think that's good, I would sooner buy a locally made item than some plug-ugly over-priced Chinese-made crap. I never allow my kids to go out and annoy people, they are annoying enough already, but usually buy some of the offending items myself. The last thing I bought was several years ago, chemical-tasting cookie dough, and don't plan on ever buying another fund raising item unless they can come up with something better. Once they had flower bulbs from a "local" company, and I loved that. Fund raising in my area seems to happen mostly in the younger grades, so maybe that is why I have not been hassled recently. If you have no idea what a fund raiser is, count yourself among the blessed.

I don't do much in the way of candles, certainly not container candles, but since being on this forum, when I notice candles in a store, I always have to look. It's amazing the number of off-centre wicks I see.

You could also get some tiny pins and pin your crystals to the candle.

I find that people think that all they need to do to sell is to make something, anything, no matter how badly made or overpriced. So many people have totally unrealistic expectations. They throw together some crap, put a price tag on it, and think people will be lining up. You have to do your homework. Mind you, I thought the same thing the first few months I started up. Then there are the people who use crap materials in an effort to keep the price down. I use good yarns etc and sell at whatever price I put on it, whereas an acrylic scarf, IMO, is still overpriced at $20.

I used to render suet into tallow, it involved putting the stuff in a large pot with salt and lots of water and cooking it. Can't remember how long or why or anything, but I do remember that every surface in the kitchen was covered in grease. Google it, you'll probably find answers there. Have fun!

Sit down here for a few hours, get a notebook and some pencils, and read. You will also have to do a fair amount of experimenting. Don't expect to have a candle business anytime soon, but keep working and learning. That has to come first. Good luck.

soapdish or soapdishforum? They're 2 different things. I think you want the soapdishforum. I just asked for access to their archives, (a couple of days ago) and I heard back the next day.

I don't know the effect of heat on curing soap, but I do know that a woodstove can produce intense heat. Maybe try to insulate your soap AGAINST the heat by placing it on a shelf and draping a comforter over it, or something.

I'm sorry you felt bad at being turned down, but keep in mind that there are very many people who can't tolerate FO's, and I'm one of them. I don't seem to have a problem with EO's, but many FO's lead to all sorts of medical problems with me. In many cases, turning down FO's is not a matter of choice, but of necessity.

You're probably better off relying on the internet for a while, there's a ton of info. Start with Kathy Miller's site, the soapdishforum is also really good. If you are intent on buying, please avoid Norma Coney's book.

CP isn't hard, but it does take some care and research. But once you get going, it's quite easy. Also totally addictive.

I also use a 2/0, but (I've been meaning to try but haven't yet) feel that a 3/0 or 4/0 would likely burn just as well, with a longer burn time.

IMO, there are simply too many shows. It seems as if every church and school is hosting a "craft fair" these days, and when they only find 3 people signing up, they fill it with whatever they can. Then when the crafts people don't do well, they are unlikely to return. It is a vicious circle. Lots of the people hosting the shows are only in it for the money, which of course is nice, but they should be interested in putting on a quality show as well.

Use a lye calculator (I use summerbeemeadows) and set the superfat to about 5 or 6 percent. Type in your oils, and even if you don't add anything at trace, it will adjust your lye amount to give you whatever superfat you choose. If you choose to add shea butter, include some in your recipe on the calculator and recalculate. Superfat refers not to adding stuff at trace, but to how much oil/fat remains unsaponfied.

A friend of mine makes tea cup bird feeders and uses mostly cups from a local thrift store that are not worth much. But once or twice she got hold of a good cup and saucer and I nearly killed her. She drills holes in hers. I told her that while I loved her feeders, those cups would have looked so much better in my china cabinet.